Method of securing a strap to a buckle



J y 6, 1965 P. w. WHITE METHOD OF SECURING A STRAP TO A BUCKLE Filed Jan. 11, 1952 INVENTOR /DAUL l/M WM TE BY Wam., EMM/wm) ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,192,57 METHD QF SECURENG A Sra-TRAP TQ A BUCKLE Paul W. White, New Haven, Conn., assigner to Parva Buckle Company, Mount armel, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed `lan. 11, 1962, Ser. No. 165,563 1 Claim. (Cl. 24--2tlll) This invention relates to buckle and buckle assemblies for use with garments and the like, and to a method of assembling a buckle-and-strap assembly, and more particularly, to a one-piece buckle and a buckle-and-strap assembly particularly useful as a garter strap assembly.

In the manufacture of garment supporting strap assemblies, such as garter strap and buckle assemblies, it will be appreciated that the various manufacturers use a wide variety of different size garter straps of various thicknesses, and additionally which have diverse elastic properties. Moreover, it will be appreciated that a garter strap should be readily adjustable to provide for various lengths and should be firmly secured in the selected position against slippage or creep of the buckle along the strap. Further, it is common to xedly secure a portion of a garter strap to the buckle in order that the buckle and strap from a loop to provide for adjustability of the strap length and to carry a garter support.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved buckle.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved buckle and buckle-and-strap assembly which permits easy adjustment of the buckle on the strap and which thereafter is effective to firmly grip the strap to prevent slippage and creeping of the strap on the buckle.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved buckle having means for advantagously xedly securing a portion of its strap.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved method for securing a portion of a strap to a buckle.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved one-piece buckle for garters and similar garments which will accommodate a variety of different size straps of various thicknesses and different elasticities.

The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by providing a generally planar, one-piece molded plastic buckle formed of a pair of side bars with a pair of end crossbars joining the respective ends of the side bars and a pair of intermediate crossbars connecting the side bars intermediate the end crossbars. One of the end crossbars and one of the intermediate crossbars have parallel confronting surfaces forming a strap slot therebetween which is disposed angularly to the plane of the buckle.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, the intermediate crossbars are closely spaced from each other with confronting surfaces forming a strap slot therebetween disposed generally perpendicularly to the plane of the buckle and provided with opposed recesses intermediate the length thereof. The strap slot is provided with confronting portions slightly narrow than the thickness of the strap and a portion of the strap may be xedly secured to the buckle by gripping of the strap in the strap slot. The strap may be readily secured thereto by first elastically spreading the crossbars apart to a width greater than the thickness of the strap, then threading a strap between the bars while maintaining the bars apart, and thereafter releasing the bars to grip the strap.

The invention also relates to the combination or" a strap threaded with the above-described buckle. The garment CTI Patented July 6, 1965 strap is threaded through the buckle in a manner to iixedly secure one portion thereof and to adjustably retain another portion thereof. More specifically, the garmentk supporting strap has a iirst portion thereof iixedly threaded around one of the intermediate crossbars to be clinched in the strap slot provided therebetween. Additionally, the garment supporting lstrap is threaded through the angularly inclined strap slot in a direction opposite to the angular inclination of the slot and it additionally is threaded over the rst portion of the strap and between one of the intermediate crossbars and the other of the end bars.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from considering the following description in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an improved garter buckle according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a buckle-and-strap assembly according tov the present invention and utilizing the buckle of FIG. l;

PEG. 3 is a cross-sectional end view of the buckle-andstrap assembly of FlG. 2 taken along line 3 3 of FIG. 2; and

FlG. 4 illustrates one step in the method of assembling the strap with the buckle. Y

Referring now to the drawing, there is illustrated in PEG. 1 a garter buckle 1&1 according to the present invention. As therein illustrated, the garter buckle lll is generally planar and formed of one-piece molded plastic such as nylon and is provided with a pair or" side bars 11 and 12, which may be of generally rectangular cross section; a pair of end crossbars 13 and 14, which are somewhat rectangular cross section but provided with a respective corner 13a, 14a rounded to provide a smooth and pleasing effect and which connect the respective ends of the side bars 11 and 12; and a pair of intermediate crossbars 16 and 17. The crossbars 13, 14, 16, and 17 cooperate to form a plurality of strap slots 20, 21, and 212.

ln order to firmly and adjustably retain a strap, the strap slot 2% formed between one end crossbar 14 and one intermediate crossbar 17 is angularly inclined to the plane of the buckle as best shown in FiG. 3, i.e., the slot 2d is not perpendicular tothe plane of the buckle as are slots 21 and 22. The angularly inclined slot Ztl is formed by parallel confronting surfaces .1t-lb and 1712 on the respective crossbars 14.- and 17, FlG. 3, to form the acute corners 1de and 17e. in one particular buckle 1li wherein the slot was inclined 20 degrees from the perpendicular, as indicated at X in FlG. 3, and was .G70-inch wide, it was found that straps in thicknesses from .037-inch to .C-inch (generally representing all the types of straps used in the garter eld) were readily accommodated by the buckle. Although, if the inclination of the slot 26 were increased, for example, to 30 degrees, the holding qualities of the buckle may be improved, the adjustment thereof would be proportionately more difficult, and an inclination of 20 degrees was, therefore, found suitable.

To provide for the permanent gripping of a portion of a strap, the adjacent intermediate crossbars 16 and 17 are closely spaced and are provided with confronting surfaces 16C, 17e, therebetween forming the clinching strap slot 21 disposed generally perpendicular to the plane of the buckle. Moreover, in order to provide for the subsequent threading of a strap through the buckle, the intermediate crossbars 15 and 1] are provided with opposed confronting recesses 16d, 17d, FIGS. 1 and 4, for the insertion of a spreading tool.

In the embodiment of FlGS. 2 and 3, a garment supporting strap 25 is threaded through the buckle 16 by first threading a first or free end portion 26 thereof through the strap slot 22 formed between the crossbars 1.3 and 15, around the crossbar 1S, and through the clinching strap slot 21 formed between the intermediate crossbars 15 and 17, as best illustrated in FG. 3. Additionally, another portion Z7 of the strap 25 is adjustably threaded through the angularly inclined strap slot Z0 in a direction opposite to the angular inclination of the slot to form an S-shaped bend in the strap 25 so as to bear against the corners 14e and 17e of the' crossbars 14 and 17, respectively, thereby to snub slippage and creep of the strap. The portion 27 is thereafter threaded over the portion 25 and thereafter through the remaining strap slot 22. The clinching strap slot 21 has confronting portions lef, 1.73 and 16g, 27g spaced apart slightly narrower than the thickness of the strap 25 and, consequently, the rst end portion ,26 will be clinched rst between the intermediate crossbars lo and 17 and additionally by the pressure or" the strap portion 27 against the strap portion 26. On the other hand, the

-angularly inclined strap slot 20, as well as the additional strap slot 22, is suiciently wide to permit loose threadings of straps of various thicknesses therethrough. it will be appreciated that the strap 25 .may be looped between the portions 26 and 2'] to forni an open loop 28 supporting a garter support 29 or other garment or garment securing appliance.

It has been found that a buckleandst1ap combination as described above may be readily adjusted to provide for various lengths of strap arrangements while securely holding the strap in the adjusted position against slippage and creep. Moreover, the strap may be readily adjusted by merely loosening the load thereon and pushing the buckle in the desired direction. Additionally, it has been found that a buckle 1.0 may be used with a wide number of different size straps having various elasticities.

The free end portion of the strap 25 is readily securely xed in the clinching strap slot 2l by the natural resiliency of the plastic material from which the buckle 10 is formed. According to the method of the present invention, the strap 25 is fixedly secured to a Pair of cross-- bars, here illustrated as the intermediate bars lo and l', which have been closely spaced to a width slightly less than the thickness of the strap by first elastically spreading the crossbars apart by the insertion of a pair of jaws 31 and 32 of a spreading tool, fragmentarily illustrated in FIG. 4, into the recesses 16d and 17a' and then elastically spreading the crossbars apart with the portions lf, 17j and 16g, 17g to a width greater than the thickness of the strap.

The strap may then be threaded between the intermediate crossbars 7.6 and 17 and between the jaws 31. and 32 of the spreading tool while the crossbars 17 and 18 are maintained apart. Once the strap is threaded between the bars, the jaws 31 and 32 may release the crossbars 15 and il? to permit the portions idf, .17j and 16g, 17g to elastically and resiliently grip the strap 25. Threading of the strap 25 may then be completed to provide the buckle-andstrap assembly illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to a single embodiment thereof, it should be understood that many other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art. It is therefore intended in the appended claim to cover all such modications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

The method of xedly securing a portion of a strap for supporting a garment to a one-piece buckle of generally resilient material comprising the steps of forming a strap slot between a pair of crossbars of the buckle with at least portions thereof at a Width slightly less than the thickness of a strap, resiliently spreading said portions of the crossbars apart to a width greater than the thickness of said strap, threading a strap between said portions while maintaining said portions apart, and releasing said portions to clamp said strap therebetween.

References Cited by the Examiner UNTED STATES PATENTS DONLEY STOCKNG, Primary Examiner.

ABRAHAM G. STONE, Examiner. 

